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| Chennai, India |  Review on April 15, 2007: |
ELW
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Our interview on lucky Friday the 13th (April 2007) was successful!! YEA!
First of all, we had requested (TWICE) a Telugu translator because my guy speaks only broken English. They replied twice saying “Okay, you are most welcome”. But there was no translator there at the interview available to him. All the questions were asked in English and my guy had to make do with short answers in English sprinkled with a bit of Telugu. He said the questions were easy so anyone knowing even a small amount of English will do fine. Note on Chennai consulate: they reply to emails IMMEDIATELY but they are not always helpful.
My guy showed up at 6:30 AM for 9 AM interview, he was like 4th in line and they let in lines at about 7:45 AM. It ended up he was the VERY LAST one they interviewed. He said he was alone in the room by the time they called his name. He came out of the Consulate finally at 1:30 PM. A 7-hour mostly waiting ordeal. Note to others: come at 7:45 AM not earlier; when you come has nothing to do with when you are interviewed.
Inside the Consulate they took his index fingerprint and had him do the I-promise-all-statements-will-be-true swearing in.
They asked only seven questions:
1. Who is your petitioner?
2. How did you meet?
3. How long have you known each other?
4. What city and state is she living in?
5. What is she doing there?
6. If you don’t know English well, how will you stay in USA?
7. Do your parents agree to the marriage?
At the end they told him, “OK, your visa is approved. You can pick up your passport at VFS office tonight.” Later he went to the VFS office but they said it was not ready yet, he could pick it up on Monday. Because he had train reservation to leave Chennai and go to his home in Hyderabad on Saturday (it was Friday the 13th, remember), they said they would send it by mail on Monday and it would take 3 days to arrive to him.
When he was at the VFS office, they complained that the Demand Draft for visa fees was drawn at State Bank of India. They said it should have been drawn on HSBC bank. Actually on the Chennai Consulate website it says it can be drawn on “ANY national or international bank,” and they accepted it fine at the Consulate. But the VFS office just complained when they saw his receipt. However they did NOT ask him to redo it. Note to others: get your Demand Draft visa fees drawn on HSBC bank.
Another point on the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC): his permanent residence is in Kotananduru in East Godavari District, but closest passport office is in Visakhapatnam city in Visakhapatnam district, so he got his passport there. He got a PCC from Visakhapatnam and from his village. He has lived in Hyderabad for nearly two years now, but couldn’t get a PCC from there as he had no proof of residence (all official documents, ration card, bank account etc are in the address of his permanent home). IT WAS NO PROBLEM AND NO ONE ASKED FOR HYDERABAD PCC. No one even questioned why the passport was from a city & district where he did not reside.
All in all it was a LONG Visa journey but praise God it’s over now. We will wait for the passport to arrive then get the plane ticket. Whooohooo! (Yah I'm already studying for AOS haha!)
Good luck to everyone else on this journey!
Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu! (May all the world be happy!)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1501